The present invention relates to the processing of E-mail messages over a telecommunications network. More particularly, the present invention relates to the detection and monitoring of file formats which can be processed and displayed at an E-mail client. E-mail has become a major method of communicating information over telecommunication networks; this includes the “Internet” and intranets. There are estimates that about 30-55 million American homes are wired for E-mail communication today, and this number is rapidly growing. This provides a large audience for E-mail advertisers. Thus, through E-mail, vendors can make millions of customers aware of their products. One method is to reach the largest audience possible. However, blanket advertising is akin to junk mail and is ineffective in terms of actual sales.
Targeting advertising to customer profiles has been a method to improve E-mail sales. The challenge has been to identify the audience and tailor the advertising to that audience. Vendor lists of prior customers provide a basis to identify the target audience. Once the customer base is determined, the format of the advertisement is another important factor in increasing sales. Certain sections of the population respond favorably to visual media, e.g., graphics over pure text. This “visual media” group is several times more likely to respond when they receive visual images, then when they receive only pure text. As this “visual media” group represents a significant portion of the E-mail consumers, it is one group to focus on.
Blanket advertising using visual images instead of only text is still ineffective. As the sender, chooses the file format, what the receiver, i.e., user, can process and display may be incompatible. Thus many users, to include members of the “visual media” group, may display the visual images as illegible characters. Thus there is a need to insure the user gets the file format that he/she can display.